Various Artists - "Bouquet Of Steel" (Aardvark ‎– STEAL 2) 1980

The infamous compilation from the Sheffield area of Great Britain,released during Sheffields golden era as a leading light in forward looking pop forms.The city was primarily known for its massive steelworks,and giving the world Stainless Steel; but, as has happened in pop music, cheap,lower quality imports,destroyed what made this place special. As the Bessemer Converters are turned into shopping malls,and the steel mills are converted into Loft apartments for the new elite,let us not forget that this is the place that invented Industrial Music.Its only a matter of time before there's an Industrial music museum and theme park financed by taxing the poor and selling them scratchcards at the Job centre.
When this compilation was made,times were hard,but they look positively rosey compared to today,where the population seem to be on the drug of consumerism that helps them readily accept their slavery. Even Thatcher never made noises such as that made recently by Eton cum dump, Dave Cameron:
" For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'?????
Then this mealy mouthed secret government puppet,is presenting legislation to cut off the funding of the opposition,and further crack down on workers rights,and opt out of the European Human Rights charter; tantamount to an Enabling Act for the 21st century?!(Cunt)

Back to the music, and here we have a menu littered with the lesser lights of the steel city,and its grim satellite towns,and the odd higher profile group, Comsat Angels, Artery,and I'm So Hollow. 
(If you're interested you can get all the first 3 Comsat angels Peel Sessions here).
Its all fairly accessible light post punk/proto indie pop,but good fairly accessible light post punk/proto indie pop. One of the better provincial compilations from the early eighties.


Tracklisting:

A1 Artery - The Slide

A2 B Troop - Peroxide Romance

A3 Comsat Angels- The Ju Ju Money
A4 Disease - Psychobin

A5 Flying Alphonso Brothers - Video Date
A6 I'm So Hollow - Touch

A7 Musical Janeens (And Other Party Games) - Glen Miller
B1 Negatives - Was It The Night?

B2 Repulsive Alien - Say And Do
B3 Scarborough Antelopes - Here We Go In Indigo

B4 Shy Tots - Robot Maid
B5 Veiled Threat - Torch

B6 Vendino Pact - Secret Thinking
B7 De Tian - Chorale

B8 Y? - End Of Act One

DOWNLOAD a bouquet of almost stainless steel HERE!

The Future - "The Golden half-Hour Of The Future (The 1977 Demo's)" (A Die Or DIY? Bootleg) 1977/2015

As we are on a brief Clock DVA/Sheffield trip,I thought I'd make an abridged version of the Human League/Future compilation,which inexplicably mixed up all the tracks into a non-sequential soup.
Of course Adi Newton was a founder member of The Future,which sprouted Clock DVA and The Human League.Kind of a London SS of Industrial Electronica I suppose?(discuss)
You can get the untampered version in FLAC here)

Tracklist:

1- Looking For The Black haired Girls
2- Blank Clocks
3- Cairo
4- Dada Dada Duchamp Vortex
5- Daz
6- Future religion
7- Pulse Lovers

DOWNLOAD the future from the past in the present HERE!

Also,as a Bonus,and so I can hide them from search engines,we have two boots of Sheffield scene Elvis's, the Cabs.
I got DCMA complaints for these from someone(twat!),but feel free to download them complete with my 'excellent' artwork, by the links below:
"Beat Rail(1976)"
"Chance vrs Causality(complete version)"
"Live at the Final Academy"

Enjoy.

Clock DVA ‎– "Tape 1" (Dvation) 1978

One would struggle to imagine what Industrial Music would have done without the aid of the humble Roland Space Echo; and this early DVA cassette is no exception. Fairly rudimentary stuff,sparse fuzzy synth reverberate  between the echo laden vocals like an economy brand Throbbing Gristle. The foggy simplicity of this style of non-music is quite attractive, but one must stress that track 2 is a particularly awful perversion of the already awful tune, "And Then He Kissed Me" (is this a sense of humour?; but with the hook line changed to "and then He Shot Me"........very funny?

Tracklist:

A1	Oedipus
A2	(And Then He.)
A3	Plastic
A4	Clockverge

DOWNLOAD the alien rar file HERE

Clock DVA ‎– "The Sex Beyond Entanglement" (DVAtion) 1978

Staying in Sheffield,and also following on from the "1980:The First Fifteen Minutes" ep, we are naturally led to Clock DVA, who released loads of obscure tapes around 1978/9 on Newton's own DVAtion label. This being the best of the ones I've heard. DVA in its best Cabaret Voltaire style Old Skool Industrial mode. I used to think that Clock DVA were shit from 'Thirst' onwards, and that this was their best stuff by miles;but I played 'Thirst' today, and thought it was fantatstic! Even those mid-atlantic movie trailer vocals didn't get on my nerves......I must have mellowed in my middle ageness!?(How depressing!)
I dare not play 'Advantage' for the fear that I may love that as well!?
This cassette is great chaotic, stream of consciousness, abstract underwater pop music for Wannabe outsiders.
I just love how this sounds; after listening to millions of hours of recorded music over the last 40 years,my lifeforce has decided that this muffled garbled racket is in fact, "Perfection"?

Tracklist:

A1 Sonambulist
A2 The Female Mirror
A3 Now Haag 

A4 Edge
A5 1958
A6 Constructivists
A7 Sexual Overture
B1
Genitals And Genosis (The Texture Of Two Tape Recordings)
B2 The Pop Hell
B3 Otto M.

DOWNLOAD this post coital depression HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "1980: The First Fifteen Minutes" (Neutron Records ‎– NT 003) 1979

The first fifteen minutes of 1980 from.....er......1979?.....is a mini compilation of four Sheffield bands from that city's golden period, on Vice Versa's own Neutron Records.
Naturally it features Vice Versa, with their classic minimal electronica,along with Clock DVA in early (ie Good) mode, the fantastic I'm So Hollow, and the very shit Stunt Kites.
Worth it for the I'm So Hollow track alone,even though it was also featured on "Hicks From The Sticks"; this band,for me, represents the perfect pop group formula,intelligent and memorable tunes with an experimental edge;a total lack of ambition,and split up before they even released their debut LP. Leave 'em wanting more,as the old showbiz rule states so wisely. I want more, but there ain't gonna be any more;and that's fine by me.

Tracklist:

A1 Clock DVA - Brigade
A2 Stunt Kites - Beautiful People
B1 Vice Versa - Genetic WarFare
B2 I'm So Hollow - I Don't Know

DOWNLOAD the last fifteen minutes of 1979 HERE!

Vice Versa - "Music 4" (Neutron Records PX1092) 1979 + "Stilyagi" (Backstreet Backlash Records BBR003) 1980

Vice Versa's vinyl career stretched to two 7 inchers, the minimal synth classic "Music 4" EP, and the hard industrial disco stomper "Stilyagi/Eyes of Christ" single.(Different versions to those found on the "8 Aspects Of..." tape.)
No sign that they were to become New Pop darlings of the charts and the Music press, ABC,of "Lexicon Of Love" fame. I suppose they had to earn a living?

Tracklist:

1	New Girls Neutrons
2	Science Fact
3	Riot Squad
4	Camille

5	Stilyagi
6	Eyes Of Christ

DOWNLOAD the vinyl outings or Vice Versa HERE!

Vice Versa ‎– "8 Aspects Of...." (Self Released Cassette) 1980

In 1978 the NME described Sheffield's Vice Versa as"...a bizarro trio who show occasional flashes of promise, but whose pretentiousness becomes quite tiresome" ;so one simply had to investigate further.
A very, very, minimal electronic group, not too dissimilar to Clock DVA's more accessible moments,and very typical of the Sheffield scene of the time,as a nursery of the  Industrial/electronic template.
Yes, they went on to become chart act ABC, one of the more intelligent chart acts of the early eighties.
But,don't expect any catchy singalong hits on this cassette though.Its pretty hard electronic Industrial disco,and very....er....minimal.

DOWNLOAD vice versa as easily as ABC HERE!

Portion Control ‎– "Private Illusions No.1" (In Phaze Records ‎– POR CON 005) 1981

Before Portion Control became a  proto-EBM band,or even worse,'Electropunk(?)', they made some fine DIY minimal synth cassettes. This being one of the most obscure. Twenty minutes of quality unsequenced,non-computerised analogue electronics shrouded in tape hiss. This sounds far  more futuristic than their later efforts (later = after 1984). To forget the past is to forget the future?

Tracklist:

A1	Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
A2	Double Vision
A3	White Cubes
A4	Power Studge And Crust
A5	The Mote In Gods Eye (The Arm That Was Cooked Good)
A6	Go For The Throat
A7	Slim Waters
A8	Experimental Stress Project
A9	Torrid Tale
A10	Rouge Trooper

DOWNLOAD your first private illusion HERE!

Kevin Lazar ‎– "Mutant III" (Vekazar Product ‎– K.Zar) 1982

Top marks for packaging goes to Mr Kevin Lazar for this retro-futurist minimal synth cassingle from 1982.
There seemed to be a rule in the late seventies/early eighties,which I blame on Kraftwerk, which sellotaped synthesiser music with the Naff cheese-fi of Battlestar Galactica. This usually involves vocalising in a monotone android stylee as if the singer is a robot. As fine as Kraftwerks electro-pop tunes were, their lyrics were cringingly awful. "We are the Robots" ranks up there with "I am an Anarchiiiist" as one of thee most embarrassing moments in pop poetry. Best heard in the German version,if you can't understand German.
This Kevin Lazar tape suffers the same fate.Three great minimal analogue synth tunes which would have benefited greatly from becoming instrumentals!

Tracklist:

A1	Living On Another Planet(6.19)
A2	Mutant Generation (6.33)
B1	Transmutation (13.28)

DOWNLOAD the science of cheese set to classic vintage electronics HERE!

Tara Cross ‎– "Tempus Fugit" (Permis De Construire ‎– PER 012) 1988

It's 1988 and horrible digital synthesis is everywhere,the cheap secondhand analogue stuff is being snapped up by the financially challenged classes who would invent Acid House.
Tara Cross seems to have been largely by-passed by both electronic avenues,and stuck faithfully to the minimal synth stylee,with a touch of guitar,Only a small upgrade in the drum machine department,with what sounds like a secondhand TR808,or maybe a 909,listening to those digital toms on "Rain Sprouts". Again released on a European label,she appears to have been totally ignored in her homeland;if its not funky or rocky yer average american starts to become confused.
Having said that,this isn't as good as 'Limelight',but still has its moments.

Tracklist:

A1	Rain Sprouts
A2	PK-15
A3	Shade Of Blue
A4	Tempus Fugit
A5	Days Fade
A6	Pulse Purgative
B1	Hush
B2	Babe
B3	That Boy
B4	627
B5	Aalter Image

DOWNLOAD before time passes too quick HERE!

Tara Cross ‎– "Limelight" (Vita Nova ‎– VN 006) 1985

Another who collaborated with a former Port Said member(Stefan Tischler) was Tara Cross.
On her own she produced some of the tinniest, lo-budget cheapo minimal synth pop ever made. No production values flaunting themselves,no reliance on effects,and a cheapo drum box that sounds like a collection of biscuit tins in various states of emptiness.

Tracklist:

A1	When Will You?
A2	Flight * 1
A3	Tori's Dream
A4	I Won't Cut It Away
A5	Limelight
A6	Flight * 2
A7	Long Distance
B1	Hotel Midnite
B2	Flight * 3
B3	Hot Wax
B4	Hear Me
B5	Desperate
B6	Alphabetical Numbers

DOWNLOAD tara cross who was never in the limelight HERE!

Keeler - "Out Of Body" (Great Orm Productions) 1988

One aspect of the digital technology of the eighties that was even more unimaginatively used than FM synthesis, was S-s-s-s-sampling. The memory of that Fairlight orchestral stab sample still makes me wake up in a cold sweat! (Oh Yeah!). Such terrible sample abuse was at best, a crime against Art,maybe even against Humanity? Prime examples of 'artists' still wanted for sampling crimes are The Art Of Noise, Paul Hardcastle,and virtually every rap record.
This Keeler release relies on samples taken from various parts of his body, hence the album title. He doesn't feel the need to sample the Bass line from "Walk On The Wild Side",and instead uses the sampler creatively, with processed voice samples making the majority of the sounds.
Thankfully there are no DX7 trumpets,or Fairlight orchestras,or Linn Drums,just Keeler;well, samples of Keeler.
A fine concept, executed tastefully.
RIP Keeler,
Hopefully The Fairlight never made it to heaven,along with Simmons Drum Pads,and the Yamaha DX7.

Tracklist:

A1	In Shadows, Among Strangers
A2	Gamelan Canter
A3	Waterhaze
A4	Hell To Pay
A5	Funhouse Mirror
A6	Vortex
A7	Tilt
B1	Slumming
B2	Emela-ntouka
B3	The Beachcomber's Desire
B4	Cloudbouncing
B5	Night On The Living Knights
B6	Self-Portrait

DOWNLOAD from the remains of kellers body HERE!

Keeler ‎– "Planet Of Lovers" (Self Released) 1984

Keeler, aka  the more exotically named Keith Walsh, was an unfortunate victim of the HIV virus in 1992. He was also in Port Said with Stefan Tischler,and post-said,and pre-Aids, he made a lot of electronic soundscapes such as this debut solo release from 1984.
Its all very Kosmiche,leaning towards the more danceable side of Cluster,but still unleashing the odd mini-Klaus Schulze space epic.
Basically anyone who lists a short wave radio as one of their instruments is fine by me.

DOWNLOAD a lover of planets HERE!

The Shriek ‎– "Sex Sells" (Rude Records ‎– REP 1) 1980

As mentioned in the "Gorgons and Gargoyles" post, Blair Petrie was in the Synth Punk group The Shriek before his collaboration with Port Said's Stefan Tischler.
Obviously the short lived west coast of North American fad of Synth Punk, stretched to Vancouver. This is a world away from the work Petrie did in the mid eighties, using sweary words, a couple of dessert spoons full of aggression, and the shameless use of the word 'Sex'. Pretty passable punk rock it is too, with suitably crunchy bass guitar and crude synth playing. Unfulfilled potential,but a nice change to the rather effete art electronics i/we have been listening to of late.

Tracklist:

A1	All Fucked Up
A2	Fuck Up
A3	1980
B1	Lost Control
B2	Kids
B3	Intermission

DOWNLOAD and shriek HERE!